FreeBSD

FreeBSD is an advanced open source operating system for x86-compatible, AMD-compatible, UltraSPARC, IA-64, PC-98, and ARM architectures. It is derived from BSD, the version of UNIX developed at the University of California, Berkeley. FreeBSD is developed and maintained by a large team of individuals, with additional platforms in various stages of development.

The FreeBSD project supports and sponsors FreeBSD, the free operating system of choice for many companies due to its business-friendly user license. A significant number of companies run their entire IT networks on FreeBSD, including Yahoo! and Pair Networks. The Juniper routers and NetApp storage appliances are based on FreeBSD as well.

At SCALE the FreeBSD Project will provide demonstrations of the PC-BSD and FreeBSD operating systems running on various types of hardware. PC-BSD is a fully functional operating system based on FreeBSD 7.0-stable that is geared for the desktop user, although it is also suitable for use as a server operating system.

The latest version of PC-BSD, Fibonacci, has improved support and stability for Wine (a compatibility layer for running Windows programs), improved support with the Firewall Manager GUI, improved PBI installation support, and an improved PBI thumbnailer that displays embedded icons for large installers properly. Other new built-in features include KDE Version 4.1, dual-head monitor configuration support via the X GUI setup tool, a new sound-detection method reporting via GUI any problems with auto-detect, and an optional filesystem selector that supports UFS2, UFS2+Softupdates, UFS2+Journaling, and ZFS.

SCALE attendees will profit from presentations about the benefits of running the FreeBSD and PC-BSD operating systems on their computer hardware. We will also have a variety of tradeshow goodies to give away, such as FreeBSD 6.3 and 7.0 CD box sets, PC-BSD 7.0 Fibonacci DVD sleeves, FreeBSD and PC-BSD T-shirts, FreeBSD CD holders, FreeBSD daemon horns, and FreeBSD daemon plushy dolls.